The Alpha Prince's Bodyguard

Chapter 8

Ve purses her lips in quiet contemplation. Time is against them, it is not as if she hasn't tried all this time, but as Rhys said, everyone can be bought. When it comes to what the king would do to hold Rhys down, nothing is off the table.

At this point, what do they have to lose? Even though it was expressly forbidden, things are different now. Ve raises a hand and gestures to herself.

Rhys raises an eyebrow as he looks at her, his hand staring at her hand, looking at the motion as if completely alien to him.

"What do you mean?"

He needs an explanation of the most simple of gestures. If anyone else did the same movement he would understand instantly what they were referring to. He just needs clarification because his entire interaction with Ve for the whole day has been strange, and he's not entirely sure if he understands what is happening.

"Me"

"You?"

His word is full of shock and bewilderment, like the simple word is still not penetrating his skull. Maybe because it is so out of the realm of possibility, even though he cannot see her expression, he knows that she isn’t joking, but it has to be a joke….it is not possible that she is serious.

"I can train you"

It is as if all the haze clears up from in front of Rhys' eyes and he can see clearly. He has known this woman for such a large portion of his life now. He knows her abilities.

Her train him? He must have gone crazy to even think about listening to her. She is obviously insane.

A few choice words and he has forgotten all he knows about her.

"You?"

Rhys genuinely doesn't mean for his voice to sound so full of contempt. But just staring at the completely hidden figure of the tiny little petite girl. She doesn’t even look like the adult she must be now, still looking like a child playing dressup. The idea that she could teach him anything is just laughable.

"You underestimate me too much"

"Underestimate? I'm sorry Ve, and I truly mean no offense by this, but you are the one that is overestimating yourself"

This is important. This is about both of their lives. It is not time for children's games. If he fails, there are no redos.

For Ve, his instant dismissal angers her. Not meaning any offense before saying the most offensive thing? Infuriating, that coupled with him looking at her like she has just said the most preposterous thing cuts her deep.

Even though she has said so much, he felt she feels like he hasn't listened at all, because it is barely five minutes later, and he is disrespecting her and underestimating her.

She nearly snarls in reply.

"You think I can't?"

"I KNOW you can't"

Rhys is so dismissive. Ve feels power surge through her body, maybe in some way this is her own fault, in an effort to remain as inconspicuous as possible. She hasn't revealed herself enough, that even the man that stands the closest to her at all times thinks that she is nothing more than just a random accessory.

If he doesn't believe her, all she can do is show him. Her reason is a distant memory, her body moves before her mind even has a chance to process her actions and reevaluate. Her footsteps are silent on the debris littered forest floor.

Even though they are only a few footsteps apart, she has moved behind him impossibly quickly. His superior sight and superior senses failed to even see her. Her small foot kicks out the back of one knee as she bends over, bringing his large body over in a large arc.

His muscled physique hits the forest floor before he even knows what is happening. Shock radiates through his body just as hard as the hit, his arm twisted behind his spine in such a way that it feels like his shoulder joint is about to pop out, while he can feel her presence and feel her small hands wrapped around his large arm. It still feels so surreal that it is hard to come to terms with it being carried out by Ve.

He tries to move, not exerting a lot of effort, just enough to know that she truly has him. He doesn't put up a massive fight against her. He doesn't need to. She has proven her point. While he was not expecting that attack at that moment, he is always at a certain level of vigilance and she got him.

Credit where it is due.

Ve doesn't hold him for long, she doesn't put more pressure on his arm to dislocate it, she makes no effort to hurt him in any way. All she wanted to do was show him how wrong he was.

Ve releases his hand, letting his arm fall back by his side. She curses herself under her breath, she knows that she took it way too far. She is hurting on the inside, but she is not usually so emotional that she loses control in such a way.

She has already gone so far past what she ever considered acceptable. The yelling and speaking out of turn was already far past what she has ever allowed of herself and then now she actually lay hands on the prince? Her mind is a mess, all of this is wrong.

She turns on her heel and walks back towards the castle, it doesn't matter how much she has been hurt, she cannot do what she just did.

While she needs to calm down and get back to normal. She does not forget her obligation completely. She would love nothing more than to run in the opposite direction, leaving Rhys, giving herself enough distance to get her mind right. The reality is that her job doesn't stop just because she wants a break.

So she walks further away from him than she usually does in such an exposed locale. She doesn't go far enough that anyone could lay a hand on him before she has had a chance to intercept.

Rhys lies on the ground for a moment. His cheek touching the cool earth below him, that escalated so quickly. He can't even believe it, his lack of respect for her and flagrant disregard of her skills ended up in embarrassment, but instead of feeling humiliation, he actually is impressed. Taking down someone of his strength and body mass in such a way is an impressive feat.

As his mind starts running through many different scenarios, trying to work out exactly where he has gone wrong in his conception. Has he really misunderstood her to such an extent? When she talked about the disrespect was she also talking about him? Has he treated her so bad? Has he been so blind to her skills?

It all points to that.

She is an elite bodyguard, and she has managed to make it this far. Was he too focused on what he saw physically that he failed to see the underlying strength? He can't think of a time that he has been more wrong.

For some reason above everything else, everything this could mean, everything he has missed, his mind keeps going back to the fact of why now? What has changed so much? Why today, of all days, has it been so different? From chiding him to laying hands on him to prove a point.

Why is today different?

So many of Ve’s words are concreted in his mind after what just happened. If he took a moment to see those around him, what has happened in this time that he hasn't noticed? What is different? What is the catalyst? She has been in training. Other than that, she has been by his side.

He pushes himself up off the ground, and moves to her without even taking the time to brush himself off.

Rhys catches up to her quickly and Ve is ready to take any punishment. What she did was completely out of line, even if it was just trying to prove her own worth.

While Rhys has never treated her as a friend. He has never been out of line in any way. She has never been punished unjustly or not.

It would be impossible for such a strong wolf to take that in any other way than a challenge. Even if she was just trying to show him. She still embarrassed him.

Even though she could stop him, she is the one that did wrong, and she is willing to take the consequences, no matter how unjustified it feels.

Which is why Ve is surprised when his hand wraps around her bicep, but the touch is gentle, pulling her to a stop. She faces straight ahead looking at the trunks of trees and foliage in front of her, not turning back to look at Rhys at all. Instead of the words of rebuke she is expecting, his voice is concerned.

"What happened at training?"

While Ve was set to take whatever Rhys deemed necessary as punishment, she was not ready for that, nor will she ever be ready for that. His words hit her right where it hurts the most. Maybe that question can inflict more damage than any amount of torture.

She tugs her arm out of his grip, it doesn't even take much effort. His strong hand only barely touching her, far from holding her captive.

"Why would you care?"

Ve snarls the words, venom pouring from her tone. The even, emotionless voice is long gone. She storms off, not willing to say another word. This time there could be danger, and she wouldn't even know, her mind is nowhere near where it should be. Her job and her life's work forgotten in that moment.